China’s been under such fire lately. People are pulling out of the Beijing Olympic games right and left because of the country’s pollution issues or alleged contributions to the Darfur crisis. It seems we’re also bombarded with constant reports of Chinese manufactured lead-based toys that endanger children. But not I’m going to talk about any of that. I’m only sharing happy thoughts here as I shine the good light on one of the world’s oldest and most fascinating civilizations.

While the Chinese may not care about kids eating poisoned paint (wait — I wasn’t going to talk about that), they care a lot about the Tibetan antelope. And the rare species, which is found exclusively in China’s Tibet-Qinghai region, not has not been doing well since the late 20th Century. This medium-sized bovid, who also goes by the name of chiru, is a gregarious animal that has a life span of about eight years.